The post Russia’s firewall at its limits as it takes on Telegram, WhatsApp, and YouTube at once appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

The full blocking of WhatsApp in Russia is linked to the nation’s firewall running out of capacity amid attempts to slow down Telegram, experts in the field suggest. Besides the two messengers, Russian authorities are also cutting traffic to YouTube, overloading the technology employed by the state to censor internet for its citizens. Russia extends itself to block massive online content and communication The sudden and complete restriction of access to the popular messenger WhatsApp and YouTube in Russia is likely related to efforts to slow down Telegram, local media unveiled, quoting specialists with knowledge of how the system works. Russia’s telecom watchdog, Roskomnadzor, removed the WhatsApp domain from its DNS servers on Wednesday, effectively preventing the use of Meta’s messaging service in the country. It appears it did that also with Google’s video sharing platform a day earlier. The domains have been deleted from the National Domain Name System (NDNS), established after the adoption of the so-called “sovereign internet” law. Under the legislation, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) is responsible for enforcing the Russian equivalent to the Chinese framework for internet control. The strategy is the same in both case, so is the reason which is of technical nature, according to Dzhemali Avalishvili, managing director of the infrastructure integrator Ultimatek, who commented on the latest developments for RBC. Quoted by the Russian business news portal, Avalishvili explained further: “There’s only one reason, and it’s technical – the TSPU equipment is operating at the limit of its capacity.” The TSPU (Technical Means of Counteracting Threats) devices are deployed at internet service providers to allow them to throttle or block internet traffic to targeted platforms. In comparison with China’s “Great Firewall,” which operates on a national level, Russia’s solution allows for more precise,…

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Filed under: News - @ February 12, 2026 2:28 pm